Bellingham climber’s body to remain on North Cascades glacier

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BELLINGHAM, Wash. — The body of a Bellingham woman will remain on a North Cascades National Park glacier indefinitely after a recovery team decided a mission to the site would be too dangerous.

The Bellingham Herald reports a team of national park climbing rangers trained in search and rescue made the decision Monday.

Mountaineer Susan Bennett died July 22 in a fall while rappelling from Forbidden Peak, one of the region’s most treacherous rock faces. She was with a group of four climbers who had reached the summit.

A helicopter rescue crew located her body in a 30-foot crevasse, but could not reach her. Two other attempts were aborted.

Forbidden Peak is east of Marblemount along Highway 20, in the area of Cascade Pass.